SHOWING HONOR

"Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor." (Romans 12: 10)

Dr. John C. Maxwell in his new book WINNING WITH PEOPLE says, "if you put yourself in the place of others instead of putting others in their place, it changes the way you see life, and it changes the way you live it." He goes on to share this neat story about author and speaker Dan
Clark as he recalled standing in line with his Dad to buy tickets for a circus.

"As they waited, they noticed the family immediately in front of them. The parents were holding hands, and they had eight children in tow, all well behaved and all probably under the age of twelve. Based on their clean but simple clothing, he suspected that they didn't have a lot of
money. The kids jabbered about the exciting things they expected to see, and he could tell that the circus was going to be a new adventure for them.

As the couple approached the counter, the attendant asked how many tickets they wanted. The man proudly responded that he wanted to buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets so he could take his family to the circus. When the attendant quoted the price, the man's wife let go of his hand, and her head drooped. The man leaned a little closer and asked, 'How much did you say?' The attendant again quoted the price. The man obviously didn't have enough money and he looked crushed.

Clark says that his father watched all of this, put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a worn twenty-dollar bill, and dropped it on the ground. His father then reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder, and said, 'Excuse me, sir, this fell out our your pocket.'

The man knew exactly what was going on. He looked straight into Clark's father's eyes, took his hand, shook it, and with a tear streaming down his cheek, replied, 'Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.'

Clark and his father went back to the car and drove home. They didn't have enough money to go to the circus that night, but it didn't matter. Because they had put themselves in the place of others, they had done something important."

How about you? "Outdo someone today in showing honor!" Good words to ponder today on this hot, July 27th, 2005.